Silverwood
Overview Silverwood is a material harvested from Silverwood Trees, native to the northeastern peninsula of the Twyst Lands. Appearance and Physical Attributes Silverwood Trees (Quercus Canus) is a flowering plant, discovered on the northeastern peninsula of what is now classified as the Twyst Lands. They are easily distinguishable due to their pale grey to white bark. Unlike other trees, Silverwood Trees show a startling propensity for magic. Forests of Silverwood Trees in the Twyst land were renowned for their ability to drain the magical residue in the soil, keeping the forests calm and devoid of magical spawn. However, ever since start of Terian Incursions into the Twyst Lands, it has been recorded that the stabilising ability of the Silverwood Trees has disappeared, along with their quicksilver leaves. Now, entire groves of Silverwood Trees stand without a leaf on their branches, as if undergoing an endless winter. Currently, the cause for this startling phenomenon is still unknown, with leading scholars stumped for clues. The locals claim that the root of the problem lies with the grief that the trees feel for the enslaved elves. The heartwood of Silverwood Trees has a very high magical affinity, and is often used to build magic resistant doors and walls. The branches of the Silverwood are more conductive than the heartwood, and are often used for casting implements in thaumatics or styluses in quaematics. Due to the innate rarity of the Silverwood Trees and the customs of the elvish locals, Silverwood is only used by the wealthy or those of high nobility within the Teris Empire, or of locals that are on friendly terms with elves. As a construction material Silverwood suffers the same difficulty as with other magical materials; if left untreated, the Silverwood will quickly lose its magical properties and become an ordinary piece of wood. Determining the true nature of a Silverwood wand or construct is very difficult if the appraiser is unversed in magic, as no visual indication is apparent between the denatured and magical material. Even when properly treated to prevent the denaturation, Silverwood remains a soft material and is unfit for large scale construction. The bark of a still-living Silverwood tree can be boiled to release the stored magical energy in what some refer to as a "mana potion," despite the fact that mana is innate to each individual. When consumed, it instead empowers the drinker's raw magical power for a short period of time. Unfortunately, even the most skillful alchemists have been unable to suppress the potent laxative effect the bark brew also induces. Elven Significance In elvish culture, the Silverwood is treated as incredibly sacred, and desecration of the tree is an offense punishable with exile or death. Many tribal governments within Twyst territory only allow the harvest and use of fallen Silverwood branches, and even then their trade is highly restricted. After the Teris Empire had invaded the Twyst Lands and enslaved many of it's inhabitants, it is said that the typically deciduous Silverwood lost its leaves rather suddenly, becoming the strange leafless structures observed today. Although many prominent scholars hailing from the Teris Empire attribute this abnormality to some sort of structural evolution, many elves believe that the trees are simply in mourning. Trivia Multiple efforts have been made by both the Lunthornian Charter and the Teris Empire to cultivate the Silverwood trees within the civilised lands, to little avail: the saplings will successfully grow but will possess no magical properties upon maturation, serving little more than a decorative arbor for gardens. Soil tests suggest that an abundance of environmental magic is necessary for the activation of the Silverwood Tree’s properties during germination. Additional attempts by Terian scholars to transplant fully grown Silverwood Trees into the Empire have also failed, with the tree wilting away in mere days. Several enterprising merchants from the Lunthornian Charter have petitioned the Aeristhanian government to allow for the transplantation and establishment of a Silverwood grove in the Fiefdom Aeristhane; the appeal has been struck down twice now by the Aeristhanian councillors, refusing to defile the elvish traditions regarding the trees.